The Golden Ratio: The First Ingredient to Design Enlightenment
I came across this term back in 2021 while I was working on a freelance project of mine, to nerd it a bit-it’s basically a mathematical ratio (1.618) introduced by a Greek Mathematician back in the day, Euclid, but later a Greek sculptor, Phidias, instigated the belief that it can be used in design.
Now here comes the mind boggling part, Leonardo Da Vinci came up with a famous drawing called The Vetruvian Man, the basic idea of it being, the ideal proportions of a human body, and it is believed to incorporate the golden ratio.
The idea is, that even though we might not be aware of the intricacies of this quantity, it is believed that most things that are aesthetically pleasing to our eyes, follow the Golden Ratio, be it parts of the human body, something as grand as The Pyramid of Giza, The Mona Lisa or something as casual as Spirals in Shells or Sunflower seeds.
You’ll probably be intrigued by the fact that one of the biggest corporations of our time, has a logo that follows the golden ratio.
I think you might have guessed it, it’s Apple.
Hope this was a pleasurable read for you, having worked in the field of design for almost 4 years now, my experience has forced me to study design and it’s principles, because they push me to find design and aesthetics in the day-to-day.